ISLAMABAD: Since they are confined indoors for most of the winters, afternoon activities become popular with residents of the twin cities in the cold season.

This winter, two big food festivals treated locals to a variety of food and a day out in the crisp, sunny afternoon.

The venue of the Coke Festival 2017 at Lake View Park was much larger than the Islamabad Eat held last month.

However, the festival had some problems, the bigger of which were of traffic and parking in the dusty grounds.

The 90 stalls were scattered all over the large venue, giving the ground a sparse look. Golf carts could surely have come in handy here.

Seating was limited and most guests could be seen looking for empty seats to eat their food on.

One of the organisers of the festival, Saad, refused to compare the festival with Islamabad Eat.

“This is a much bigger affair and we also have a music festival from 4pm till 10pm. Coke Studio tier one and two including Ali Sethi, Nabeel Shaukat, Ali Hamza and others are performing here,” he said.

Restaurant owners were also not happy with the fact that the festival was to open on Friday at 4pm and that it did not start till 6pm. The lights were off at 10pm.

“There were almost no sales on Friday. It would have been better to charge us for two full days and save us the trouble of transporting the food items with so many accessories back and forth,” one of the stall holders said.

The balance between starts up and established entrepreneurs provided an ample opportunity for young home-based chefs to join in this festival and market their homemade products.

Asma Raheem, 29, owner of Bake For Me, said she had just started her food delivery business three months ago.

“I have been distributing flyers and I think on-the-spot sale is the best way to introduce my products,” she said.

The festival items were from all sorts of cuisines including Chinese, Japanese, BBQ and desi snacks such as roll parathas, samosas and bun kebabs as well as regional specialties such as chappli kabab and Shinwari tikkas.

The more popular stalls were Shakespeare’s Lounge, Chatthas, Wilton products and Fillippo Berio, which is an olive oil company from Italy. Turn-up-the-heat paninis, Hamlets’ Pocket Chicken and Greek Nachos were the hot sellers at the Shakespeare’s Lounge stall.

“Our sales were beyond expectation. Customers want something light and handy in picnic-like situations,” said Naveen Sawar, the owner of the restaurant in F-7.

Jehangir, the chef at Fillippo Berio, was making fresh pasta and chicken pakoras.

“We are offering free samples so residents of the capital know that olive oil is healthier than most other cooking oils and that it maintains the same taste,” he said.

A food blogger at the festival said such events are a revival of Islamabad’s traditional meena bazaars, which are seldom held now. People want to be out with their families, meet new people, enjoy the weather and have good food, he said.

Published in Dawn, December 11th, 2017